Kgotla truly educative, informative

The role of a public broadcaster, among other things, is to educate. The programming on the public broadcaster must therefore align itself with this requirement.

There is one programme on SABC2 that surely fulfils this role. It is Kgotla, which is presented by the highly-informed and multi-lingual Timiya Miyen.

It highlights problems that communities from disadvantaged backgrounds face when it comes to legal issues such as contracts.

Aired on Saturdays at 10am, this show makes for compelling viewing. Miyen's presentation style demonstrates that it is possible to have a multi-lingual TV show that is therefore accessible to many people in the country. She presents the show in Xitsonga, Sepedi, Tshivenda, Sesotho, isiZulu and English. As far as I know, this is the only TV show that uses more than five languages in each episode, thanks to Miyen's grasp of all these languages.

Last week's episode highlighted the plight of a Germiston man whose insured van was involved in an accident. The insurance company prevaricated when it came to paying out. The retired man then lodged a claim through a Germiston lawyer.

The lawyer in turn misled his client by claiming he had lodged his claim with the insurance company when in fact he had not done so. Frustrated, he approached another lawyer who successfully lodged a claim for R8000. The man's problems were, however, not over because the new lawyer wanted R5000 for his services. This had to be deducted from the R8000 already claimed. There was a wrangle between the two, which at some stage became ugly. This resulted in the lawyer forcibly removing the man from his office, in front of other clients.

The man complained to the Law Society, but was informed that the second lawyer had done nothing wrong. He was advised to pay the second lawyer the amount demanded for services rendered.

The show then invited two law experts who said there was indeed something wrong with what the second lawyer had done.